25 Big Milestones from our 25 Years at Ciena

As we come to the end of Ciena’s 25th anniversary year we’re hitting the “pause” button to reflect on some of the most important milestones in our history. So buckle up as we take you back in time through some of Ciena’s most memorable moments.

Yearbooks. Anniversary cards. Monuments. Tattoos. There are countless ways we recall the important moments of our lives so that we can look back on them and be reminded of just how far we’ve come. Remembering these times is on the top of our minds as this year formally marks the 25th anniversary of the Ciena brand.

While there are simply too many significant moments to try to list them all, we’ve collected a few that really shaped and defined who we are today. So here are those moments, those 25 milestones, going all the way back to when it first began in 1992:

1992: Ciena is officially founded, brought to life on November 8th with the vision of helping cable companies squeeze more television channels through their lines to end consumers.

1994: Patrick Nettles is named the company’s first CEO.

1994: Ciena actually becomes “Ciena”, as Patrick Nettles coins the name. The original company name: HydraLite.